MARK Reynolds knows all about Aberdeen’s potential but he’s more concerned about turning it into reality.

The defender is well aware of what the Pittodrie club is capable of. That was why he was persuaded to head to the north east when there was a host of other Scottish clubs clambering for his signature in 2012.

It’s why he penned a mammoth four-and-a-half year deal last January – and it’s exactly why he added an extra year a few weeks ago.

Reynolds sees Aberdeen’s potential every morning on his way into work, trying to plot a path to Pittodrie’s front door in between the thousands of fans queuing for League Cup Final tickets.

He is convinced this club is going places but is aware it will take a flash of silverware to lead the way.

Reynolds said: “It is one of the tools the manager uses to attract players.

“Aberdeen have the potential to play in finals and to win trophies. That is why we are all here.

“We’ve seen all season that the fans have been unbelievable and in some away games we have had more fans than the home team.

“The supporters have been amazing. Look at the semi-final, it was a great day and atmosphere and a lot of that was down to the fans.

“Everyone expected them to be at Sunday’s final in their numbers but 40,000 has surpassed what anyone had predicted.

“Hopefully, it will be the same type of atmosphere as the semi-final and they can cheer us on.

“No disrespect to Motherwell but we finished third in the league and were in Europe but their gate potential never seems to have the ability to increase.

“It sat at 5000 and it wasn’t going to get any higher but a club such as Aberdeen, with the history it has and the fan base, you can see the crowds going up visibly if the team does well.

“You can see the crowds going up by their thousands. If we can win a trophy and keep playing the football we are playing and maybe get European football, you can be looking at average gates of 15,000 to 16,000. The tickets sales have been incredible. We were coming in each day at 9am and there was thousands queuing up.”

Of course, with more fan power comes responsibility. A 40,000-strong Red Army has demands.

Previous Aberdeen sides have wilted under the weight of expectation but Reynolds reckons the current crop have a different mentality.

As far as he is concerned, pressure is for tyres and the Reds are motoring. He said: “It brings a lot of pressure but you want this kind of pressure.

“That is why you come to Aberdeen. You expect to win things. The players need to fit the club.

“If you don’t want to come here and be successful then you shouldn’t be here in the first place.

“I’d rather be sitting here with the pressure than where we were last year – in the bottom six, out of the cups and counting down until the next season.

“It’s not fair to speak about previous Aberdeen teams but there is a mental strength in this changing room.

“Big players step up in the big games and produce big performances. But it’s okay for me to talk about the pressure – everyone is holding their breath until May 17. Then we can look back and see if we have been successful or not. You see the red and white in the windows of the shops up Union Street so you want to do well.”

Manager Derek McInnes has told his side not to look too far ahead. He said: “It feels like the start of something here rather than the end.

“But it’s hard for me to say because we could be sitting in three years lamenting the fact this looked like the start of a great team but nothing came of it.

“But if you look around the changing room you see a good team. There’s not many players you’d take instead of ours.”

It’s an old Aberdeen cliche about pictures on the walls. Like being followed by the eyes on a horror painting, Dons players in the past have been spooked.

But Reynolds wants a piece of it. He said: “In the corridors at Pittodrie there are cup-winning teams of the past and you’d like to think about being alongside them. It would be amazing.”